


Nes Gadol Hayah Sham (A Great Miracle Happened There)

by MayThePheelsBeWithYou (LOLDivo)



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Coulson in the kitchen, F/M, Gen, Hanukkah, Hebrew Prayer, Jewish Phil Coulson, Philinda 24 Kisses, Philosophy with Dreidels, S'vivon | Dreidel, more than likely Reform though, slightly AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-06
Updated: 2015-12-06
Packaged: 2018-05-05 06:01:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5364080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LOLDivo/pseuds/MayThePheelsBeWithYou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Phil finally gets to share Hanukkah with the team, but Melinda is the only one he will share his true feelings with.</p><p>Philinda 24 Kisses: Day 6 - Hanukkah</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nes Gadol Hayah Sham (A Great Miracle Happened There)

**Author's Note:**

> Tonight (December 6, 2015) is the actual first night of Hanukkah, so being able to share my Jewish culture with the Philinda community on this particular day truly means a lot to me. A lot.  
> The title is taken from the letters on the dreidel (nun נ, gimel ג, hay ה, shin ש) which are an acronym for the phrase נס גדול היה שם, (the pronunciation and meaning of which are the title).

When Melinda May rounded the corner to enter the Playground kitchen, the smell of frying potatoes hit her full force. She was met with the sight of Coulson standing over the stove, sleeves rolled up, turning something over in a frying pan. 

"Phil, what are you doing?" inquired Melinda.

"Making latkes for tonight," he replied. There was already a small mound of golden brown potato pancakes on a plate next to him. On the table behind him were a dozen or so mesh sacks of gold coins and a few four-sided tops. A nine-armed candle holder stood in the table's center.

"And what's so special about tonight?"

"The first night of Hanukkah, of course! It's something I've been wanting to do with the team these past few years, but the timing has never been quite right. One of the downsides to following a lunar calendar."

Phil had mentioned once that his mother was Jewish. Religion was never something they discussed in detail, though, so Melinda had no idea how observant, or even if, he was. He definitely did not keep kosher, to say nothing of the man's love for pepperoni pizza.

"This is my _bubbe_ 's recipe," Phil noted, "and it was the last thing my grandmother gave me before she passed away." Melinda watched as he used the metal spatula to fish the two latkes out of the hot oil. "My mother left me that menorah," he added, gesturing to the candle holder, "and I bought some dreidels and chocolate gelt for us to play with after we eat."

Phil had turned off the oil and was standing beside Melinda at the table within seconds. She had been studying the wooden dreidels, each with the same four Hebrew letters on each of the four sides.  He casually grabbed one and spun it with a snap of his fingers. It whirled around in place until it slowed down and landed on the side with the letter that looked a lot like a left-facing bracket. "That's a _nun_ ," explained Phil, "which means you don't get anything. Don't get it confused with _gimel_ , though, or else you'll miss out on winning the entire pot." He minutely rotated the dreidel counterclockwise to reveal a similar Hebrew letter to show Melinda what he meant; the _gimel_ stood on two legs rather than a flat base. He flipped it the same direction again and continued, " _Hay_ wins you half the pot. Finally, _shin_ ," he said with one more turn, "means you put a coin (or two) in the pot. It's kind of funny; so many people think nun is the worst because you get nothing, but I think it's actually better than shin…better than losing what you have…" Phil remained silent for a few moments after that, absorbed in thought. Melinda noticed he kept gazing at that letter that looked so much like a flat-bottomed W. He sensed her eyes upon him and looked up from the dreidel in his hand. "I'm sorry. It just seems to sum up our lives right now so well. Everything that's happened with the Inhumans and ATCU and Hydra...makes you wonder if what we've done so far has been worth the all that loss."

Melinda snatched the dreidel from him without a word and spun it on the table; the letter  _shin_ appeared. "Apparently you're not the only one. Do you think this means we need to replace our logo with that letter and operate as Agents of S.H.I.N.?"

Phil laughed at the unexpected quip. "Nah, it's not an inherently bad letter. Actually, from what I recall, it's associated with a lot of positive words. It's a root letter for words like _shalom_ and _Shabbat_ , _shofar_ and _shehecheyanu_ …that's a prayer that is usually said at the start of any important holiday or life event, or whenever you do something new."

"Is it a prayer that would be said tonight?" Melinda inquired.

"On the first night of Hanukkah? Always," Phil answered. "It's been a while since I've said it out loud. Let's see if I can do it correctly…" He clasped Melinda's hands in his own and began to recite, " _Baruch ata Adonai, eloheinu melech ha'olam, shehecheyanu, v'kiyimanu, v'higianu lazman hazeh_ …It roughly translates into 'May you be praised, Ruler of the Universe, for giving us life, for sustaining us, and for enabling us to reach this moment'. It's a prayer that's been coming to mind more often lately, especially now." Phil brought their joined hands up to his chest, directly over his scar. Melinda met his gaze and saw nothing but love and reverence in his eyes as he proclaimed, "I'm thankful that whatever runs this universe has allowed us to reach this moment. Together." Phil leaned in towards Melinda and their lips met in a kiss. Just as they were beginning to settle into it, a sudden yelp jerked them apart.

"Whoa, I'm so sorry," rang out Daisy's voice from the doorway. She scanned the ceiling in order to avoid eye contact and added comically, "Is there some Jewish equivalent to mistletoe hanging around here or something?" May simply gave the young agent her usual deadpan-murder look. Coulson heard Daisy muttering something about calling the others in for dinner as she gingerly scampered away.

While the rest of the team trickled into the kitchen, Coulson returned to the stove to fry the rest of the latkes while May set the table. Everyone commended Director Coulson on his unprecedented talent for making potato pancakes that were so lacy, crisp, and "strangely awesome with applesauce on them" (in the words of Hunter). After Coulson gave a quick crash course on Hanukkah and lit of the menorah, it was time to play dreidel. Coulson explained the gameplay value of each Hebrew letter just as he had to May. He briefed them on _nun_ , _gimel_ , and the "broken pi" letter _hay_ , (as Simmons had so endearingly called it), but then faltered a bit on _shin_. " _Shin_ means…it means you put two in the pot. It's the one letter where you actually lose something. You might get the impression that it's worse than _nun_ , and in a way you'd be right…" Phil looked to Melinda for support and found it in the form of a tiny nod. It gave him the courage to continue, "…but in many ways, that's what makes the game so exciting and worth it. A loss only increases the pot, and it makes victory that much sweeter for whoever is willing to take the chance to win it back. Doing something is always better than having done nothing."

Once he was sure everyone got the hang of it, Coulson rose from the table and wished everyone a happy Hanukkah. Daisy was helping May clean up (partially out of guilt for walking in on them), but she could have sworn she saw her senior officer swipe a dreidel and two bags of gelt as she followed the director out of the dining area.


End file.
